No one wants another summer of deaths at music festivals. Not the organisers, the health experts, the government, the festival-goers. Nor the parents left to wonder and worry when their children go to these events. But how to prevent it? The best efforts of police, teams of sniffer dogs and the threat of arrest have failed to make a dent in Australia's love affair with "party drugs". We are many years into the relationship and use has not decreased. Meanwhile, the potency of ecstasy has shot up and new psychoactive substances are coming onto the market, increasing the risks for those taking illicit substances and making it harder for medical personnel to work out the best treatment for sufferers. [continues 414 words]
Of all the conflicts that the United States embarked upon in the past 100 years, President Richard Nixon's war on drugs - launched in June 1971 - was arguably the most futile. The aim was to reduce the illegal trade in drugs by criminalising their production, sale, possession and consumption. An army law enforcement agency equipped with all the resources the most prosperous and technologically advanced nation on earth could muster was enlisted to reinforce this prohibition. However, for all the national treasure expended and the millions of lives lost or blighted, the war has achieved little. Estimates of the size of the US' illicit drug trade are far from precise, but it's estimated that users spend about $100 billion annually, sustaining and enriching large criminal organisations inside and outside the country. [continues 594 words]
Volusia on Thursday became the first county in Central Florida to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The County Council by a unanimous 7-0 vote gave law officers the discretion to ticket tokers who possess 20 grams of the drug or less. Instead of being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, violators would be fined $100. "The only thing we learned from the war on drugs is that it didn't work," County Council member Josh Wagner said. "All it did was fill the jails." [continues 574 words]
This week federal parliamentarians will discuss with world experts ways to minimise harm caused by illicit drugs. At a national drug summit, legislators will also be reminded of the sobering reality that Australians consume illegal drugs at concerning levels. A 2014 United Nations report found, for example, Australians lead the world in ecstasy use. The so-called war on drugs has failed, here and in every nation that embraced it. Former Victorian police commissioner and head of the National Ice Taskforce Ken Lay last year encapsulated the views of many informed people when he said "we can't arrest our way out of this". Former UN chief Kofi Annan made the same case in these pages only last Sunday. [continues 440 words]
A bill pending in the Oregon Legislature would bar medical marijuana grows on land zoned for rural residential use - a change that would be welcomed by neighbors upset over nearby grows but decried by people already growing medical marijuana in those zones in Jackson County. A vote on Senate Bill 1598, which was in committee Thursday, could happen within the next several days as the Oregon Legislature pushes to wrap up this year's short session in early March. [continues 393 words]
Two football players lost their positions on their team rosters after being busted with weed. University of Kentucky linebacker Jason Hatcher had a pound of weed on him when he was pulled over for speeding on Feb. 22, cops say. The college later announced his dismissal from the roster for breaking team rules. According to the Courier-Journal, Hatcher had been cited for marijuana possession before, but had taken a class to dismiss the charge. A few days before that, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Jonathan Newsome was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana after cops responded to a noise complaint at his apartment. He was released by the team less than a week later. [continues 527 words]
The debate that erupted this week over the relocation of the annual 420 protest has led me to this conclusion: Please, please make marijuana legal as quickly as possible so these people go away. Imagine, no need to gather by the thousands to demonstrate and demand their Jah-given right to get as baked as they please in public. No controversy over licences, permits, locations or smoking on beaches. Everyone can just stay home, order some extra pizza and scroll through Netflix. You may not even watch anything; just scroll. [continues 767 words]
Three roommates who grew medical marijuana are suing two law enforcement agencies after their rural Conifer home was raided "military-style" with armored vehicles, machine guns and flash grenades. A year after the raid, none of the three has been charged with a crime, and they have received minimal response from Denver police and Jefferson County sheriff's officials about why they confiscated $70,000, 28 firearms and a pickup, their attorney said. "We have heard pretty much silence from the authorities on our requests for further information," said Rob Corry, an attorney with The Cannabis Law Firm. "Our clients are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing whatsoever. This is a significant amount of property and they'd like to get it back." [continues 197 words]
Santa Rosa took another step toward becoming the center of the North Coast's commercial medical marijuana industry Tuesday when the City Council pushed forward a plan to regulate cultivation instead of banning it. Following the advice of its subcommittee, the council rejected an outright ban and instead approved a plan to temporarily allow large-scale marijuana cultivation in at least three nonresidential zoning districts with special permits approved by the Planning Commission. The 7-0 vote was wildly applauded by a chamber filled with people who said they were grateful for the chance to conduct their underground business legally. [continues 792 words]
Coaldale schools have a new RCMP School Resource Officer (SRO). His name is Const. Doug Sokoloski and he's all geared up since the RCMP took over policing duties from the Lethbridge Police Service on Jan. 1. Previously, Sokoloski was stationed in Pincher Creek for more than seven years. Part of his duties in the community was working within the M.D. "I was a community policing officer. Part of that was school resource officer and traffic and public relations were the other few main components. I have done that, of course, at the normal detachment level when I was in Raymond/Magrath - schools were part of our mandate and in Fort McMurray, as well," said Sokoloski., who has been a member of the RCMP for more than 19 years. [continues 444 words]
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California prison officials are ending visitor strip searches in response to a recent change in state law, but visitors will face increased scrutiny for a year if traces of drugs are detected by dogs or airport-style scanners. It's the first time visitors will be scrutinized by dogs that previously have been used to search inmates, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Dana Simas said Monday. Visitors who are spotlighted by a dog or ion scanner but refuse clothed searches face an increasing range of penalties under the revised regulations the department proposed Friday. [continues 233 words]
Derek Lyons had slurred speech, a glazed-over stare and was slow and unsteady on his feet. He'd just tapped his front bumper on the back of a woman's new car when he had pulled into a London gas station to buy cigarettes on a Saturday morning in May 2014. Police were called: The woman thought Lyons was "spaced out, not quite all there" - high on drugs. The 30-year old former OHL hockey player, who's had five concussions, was slumped over in the cruiser as police took him to the station. [continues 783 words]
Congratulations to Canada and new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the move toward ending cannabis (marijuana) prohibition ( The pot smokers are getting restless, Editorial, Dec. 28). However, it should not take "many years before weed is legalized." Cannabis prohibition is already over - it's just a matter of formalities and calling off the dogs. People aren't waiting on government to end cannabis prohibition - get the job done right now. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
State lawmakers, concerned that street level drug dealers will be unable to replace the heroin, crack cocaine and other poisons that the police seize when they arrest the dealers, will likely vote on the first day of the session on a bill requiring the police to return up to $300 to the dealers. As absurd as that sentence sounds during the current epidemic of heroin deaths and overdoses, that is exactly what a vote to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of Senate Bill 528 changes to the state's forfeiture laws will do. [continues 617 words]
Paradise - After about two hours of public testimony, a proposed ordinance that would ban medical marijuana cultivation, delivery and distribution in Paradise town limits passed the town planning commission with a 3-2 vote. A crowd of about 50 to 60 showed up to voice their opinion for and against. Most of the speakers were opposed to the ordinance, saying it will criminalize something the state has made legal. Other supporters said they use medical marijuana because it doesn't have the same side effects as pharmaceuticals. Still others argued that prohibition simply opens up a black market and encourages crime. [continues 890 words]
WITH the Stereosonic music festival coming to Adelaide tomorrow, parents will be asking, "What do we need to do to keep our children safe?" This follows the tragically predictable death at the Sydney event last weekend of a yet another young Australian. It's as if we are faced with some sort of horrendous "toxicological terrorism" - we don't know where the next death will be, just that inevitably, there will be another. Having become a parent myself in the decade since I last wrote about drugs in The Advertiser, it's a question that has become a very personal one for me. [continues 727 words]
What are they smoking at Ontario's Health Ministry? New regulations introduced by the government (and just as quickly pulled back after a torrent of criticism) would have allowed medical-marijuana users to bypass strict no-smoking policies and light up pretty well wherever they chose - restaurants, shopping malls, at the movies, on the job. In a modern medical miracle, Ontario made the dangers and annoyances of second-hand smoke evaporate in a puff of pot. The government ministry tasked with keeping people healthy simply fixated so much on the desire of marijuana users to remedy their pain that they overlooked the people who expect smoke-free environments to be just that. [continues 229 words]
To the Editor, Re: Pot dispensaries advised by RCMP to close up shop, Nov. 17. Considering Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mandate, last week, to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, to begin the process of legalizing and regulating cannabis in Canada, isn't it time for any and all police agencies along with the RCMP to put a moratorium on terrorizing and extorting cannabis dispensaries? Stephen Harper is history and cannabis prohibition will soon be history; all that's left is formalities and calling the dogs off citizens. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Farmer, concerned about flock's health, says policy needed Cyril O'Connor walks up to the fence on his Piedmont Valley Road property and gives a holler. Within seconds about 30 sheep are running to meet him. A sheep knows the shepherd's voice, O'Connor says. And he knows his sheep. O'Connor does a lot to protect the sheep he's built this connection with. In addition to secure fences, he has two dogs that protect the sheep from predators such as coyotes. [continues 651 words]
Six people have died of heroin overdoses in the Alaska capital since February, reflecting a growing crisis across the state and nation. Some Alaskans, including the police, say the time has come for a new approach. First in an occasional series JUNEAU -- Heroin's grip on Juneau can be felt in ways both plain and subtle. A decade of rising abuse can be seen in syringes and foil squares dropped on dog-walking paths and in parking lots. In grandparents raising toddlers their children are too addicted to care for. [continues 3023 words]
